


ab initio

by Creamsicle_Corvid



Series: winged roses [1]
Category: Homestuck
Genre: Alternate Universe - Demons, Demon Summoning, Demons, First Fic!, Gen, I will write more of this series eventually, I'm nervous :(, relatively unedited
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-21
Updated: 2019-12-21
Packaged: 2021-02-24 15:55:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,128
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21880555
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Creamsicle_Corvid/pseuds/Creamsicle_Corvid
Summary: Karkat summons a demon.
Series: winged roses [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1583902
Comments: 5
Kudos: 11





	ab initio

The circle is perfect, or at least as perfect as you’re going to get it, drawn in crisp white chalk on your dingy basement’s floor, complete with all the loops and twists the book told you to draw and only slightly smudged. The candles, glittery black, are brand new and set up in their proper places. Your sacrifice is positioned exactly in the center of the whole thing. It’s a modest amount of wine, the reddest kind you could find, in a faux-crystal glass that is probably actually for martinis. There are three scarlet roses arranged stem-to-bloom in a triangle around it. Overall, you put a metric fuckton of sweat and tears into this summoning and that demon had better show up, because if it doesn’t you’ll be cursing its incomprehensible name for years or eons or however long it takes for you to kick the bucket and probably some time after that too.

You’ve lit the candles already. Now the only thing left to do is recite the incantation and hope this works.

“Animal noc- noctis agi- fuck it, I can’t pronounce this.” You run a hand down your face exasperatedly. “Well, the English version is gonna have to work.”

You clear your throat. “Creature of night, banished from daytime, beast who lurks in evil thoughts- come! From the darkest shadows I beckon thee, from the deepest depths I call thee- be summoned, that your aid may be given!”

Your voice echoes. The candles flicker out, leaving nothing but smoke. You think that, for just a moment, your shadow blinks.

...And then nothing happens.

You stare at the circle in shock.

“Is- is that it?” you sputter. Your arm, the one holding your book of eldritch tips and tricks, slowly falls to your side.

“ _Nothing?_ What…”

The book makes a satisfying smacking noise against the wall. “What the hell, demon! I bought the candles! I made the circle! Do you know how many tries it took to get all those stupid little details right? Seven! That’s how many! I even drew the anatomically incorrect animal skulls!”  
You growl. “I had to search through the library for fifty minutes to find that book. Fifty. Fucking. Minutes. Of nothing but looking through bookshelves of stuff I’m not interested in. I had to suffer through the look that librarian gave me when I checked it out. My reputation there will never be the same! Never! Never again!”

“And I do all this, and what you give me is- is-” You gesture furiously at the circle. “THIS?”

And that’s when you realize that the wine glass is empty.

A light, mocking laugh echoes through the basement. “While I appreciate the entertainment, there really isn’t any cause for concern,” it purrs. It’s distinctly feminine.

It’s an idea on-par with scraping paint off of the Mona Lisa to cover a couch with the canvas to question a demon- a literal demon, who could probably explode you into an ugly red splatter if you annoyed it- but you can’t stop yourself. “And you couldn’t get here sooner because…?”

The shadows blanketing the corners of the room slide to the center of the summoning circle, where they form into the shape of the demon you’ve literally asked to come into your house. It looks like a lady’s silhouette, except its dress is made of roiling tentacles, it has a pair of arms coming out of the small of its back, and it’s covered in eyes where there normally aren’t eyes. Another notable thing is the aura of darkness around it- it drips off of it and crawls around its skin like water.

“No one can be everywhere at once,” it says, and its voice comes from every shadow, which you think makes it a bit of a liar. “You can’t expect the trains to run on time, so how can you say the same of me?”  
You chuckle nervously. “Okay okay okay let’s just get this over with before I manage to stick my _other_ foot so far up my ass that it goes through my entire digestive system and comes out through my mouth, too.”

It leans slightly back for a moment as if disturbed, but there’s no way a literal demon is grossed out by your metaphors. You hope so, anyway.  
“Sure,” it says, as smooth as ever. “Why have you summoned me?”

You take a deep breath. “I’ve got this friend. She’s. Uh. Well. Kind of really fucking hot.”  
The demon exhales loudly. “Oh, not another one of these,” it mutters.

You scowl. “Hey, Ampora’s words, not mine! My affection for her is strictly platonic. Anyway, she’s also really fucking single, and planning to stay that way.”

If it had eyebrows, you think it would have raised one. Instead it blinks all of its eyes at once, causing them all to reform at different spots. God, that’s creepy. “And what am I supposed to do about this?”

“I haven’t finished, numbnuts. There’s this group of kids that live kinda close. They’re like the popular people, kind of. Big reputations, I mean. If they ask you to do something it’s a shittingly stupid idea to say no, that kind of people, and it’s really incredibly blindingly obvious that the second-in-command guy has a thing for her.” Inwardly, you growl. “I think the rest of them wouldn’t mind a piece of her too, but that’s not the point. She’s said no every single time he’s tried to flirt with her, and he’s definitely starting to get angry. They’re planning something bad involving her, I can tell, but it seems like everyone else is completely fucking blind to their machinating because every time I try to tell her she tells me I’m paranoid. Every time!”

“So you summoned a demon.”

You cross your arms. “Past me isn’t exactly the sharpest tool at the home improvement store.”

It rolls its eyes. “Complete the deal,” it instructs you. “This summons isn’t infinite.”

Your glower increases. “Fine. You are going to protect Kanaya Maryam from those who would harm or assault her. The ways in which you do this are decided by me. I’ll pay you with…” You hadn’t actually thought this part through. “...One chicken or something of equal value for every week that the deal is active.”

Its eyes indicate that if it had a mouth, it would be smiling. “Well, it’s not completely even, but I’ve got nothing better to do. It’s a deal.”

The demon disappears. The room gets a noticeable amount brighter.

You realize that your life is about to change.

“Well,” you say to yourself, surveying the remains of your summoning. The sacrifice is gone, including the roses and cup. One of the candles is tipped over. “I’d better clean this up.”

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Constructive criticism appreciated! Advice on how to write these characters would also be neat.  
> Oh, one more thing. Two, really.  
> 1\. Should the mysterious people alluded to in here be Homestuck characters or OCs?  
> 2\. If I post more of this, what should I call the series?  
> Thanks for reading. :)


End file.
